Tears in the Rain
by Ryuuen Chou
Summary: What happened to Nuriko when he ran off in volume two..?


Tears in the Rain  
By Ryuuen  
  
  
Warnings: Shounen-ai (Nuriko/Hotohori), SPOILERS (ep. 06-07), a little A/U.  
  
A/N: This idea came to me while I was reading some episode summaries for Fushigi Yuugi, and I was thinking, what happened to Nuriko when he ran off after the evil Miaka revealed he was a man to the others. What if he had met up with everyone's favorite monk?  
More A/N: This fic, I think, very much shows Chichiri's mile-a-minute mood-swings, how he can go from happy with the "no da"'s to serious in 0.5 seconds. Also, just to clarify, in the manga, I thought that Nuriko talking about Chichiri and stuff, it didn't really seem like he needed introduced to him. Like maybe, just maybe, he knew him. I don't know, but it was as good an idea as any. ^_^ Please read & review! Arigato!  
  
  
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TEARS in the RAIN  
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He ran, ran as fast as he could in the soft rain and the dress, weighed down with the dampness of the rainfall that dripped around him in white-and-blue curtains. Tears ran down his face, although one might not notice right away, because of the rain.  
Finally, Nuriko collapsed against the trunk of a tree, sitting down, putting his face in his hands, his sobs not much more than little moans and whimpers, almost-formed words, choked with emotion and the tears that spilled down his pale cheeks, landing on the beautiful dress that would never be the same after this day, after this rain.  
I shouldn't have let her know, he thought, despite that it hadn't been his fault that she had found out in the first place. It was one of those things.. it just happened.  
"Are you all right no da?" A voice asked, and he looked up through tear-blurred eyes. "I saw what happened na no da. But that's not the Suzaku no Miko."  
"Wh-wha?" Nuriko managed through tiny, almost-held-back sobs that he fought to control, failed, succumbed to them again.  
"Tai Yi-Jun created the bad double Miko no da," The blue-haired man said, "It's not her fault."  
"H-how do you know..?" Nuriko asked after a moment. "How do you know these things?"  
"I've been watching you all since the Miko came to Hong-Nan, no da." He replied. "My name is Chichiri. And you are Nuriko, a celestial star warrior of Suzaku, no da."  
"Y-yeah." Nuriko nodded. "But, Chichiri.. isn't that..?"  
"Hai." Chichiri replied with a thin smile. "I'm a celestial warrior of Suzaku as well. But you must not tell anyone."  
"Why not?" Nuriko's tears had been traded for curiousity, something he had always had. "If you're a star warrior, you should come with us, ne?"  
"No." Chichiri said, the finality in his voice allowing no further argument. "I feel that, for now anyway, my place is in the shadows."  
"Then why did you come to me?" Nuriko asked before he could stop himself. Maybe he didn't mean to at all, he thought, maybe you're a mistake like you always are. Maybe he wants you to leave.  
"Because you were sad, no da." Chichiri said. "You needed someone to talk to, and I was the only one who could, no da."  
So he meant to come? Nuriko wondered, smiling a little at the older man.  
"Arigato gozaimasu," He said, standing to bow slightly to the monk. "I'll be alright."  
"You'll only be as alright as you ever have been," Chichiri replied. "That's not saying much."  
"H-how did you know about that..?!" Nuriko asked, incredulous. Did this man know everything about him??  
"I know a lot about you, no da," Chichiri said finally. "Probably more than you do, yourself. I know about Kourin, Nuriko."  
The aforementioned violet-haired seishi stared in disbelief at the monk. "How?"  
"I have ways," Chichiri said, his voice serious, lower. "Don't question them on me now. You'll understand in due time."  
By the time Nuriko could even open his mouth to reply, Chichiri had gone back to smiling, his tone higher.  
"Anyway," Chichiri smiled, "I thought you could use someone to talk to, no da."  
"I was just.. I'm sorry," Nuriko said. "You shouldn't have to listen to my problems when I'm sure you have your own."  
A flash of pain through Chichiri's single hazel eye, but Nuriko could not see it through the mask.  
"Go ahead," Chichiri encouraged, smiling brightly once more. "I don't mind, and you should tell someone your problems, ne, na no da?"  
"I was thinking that.." Nuriko began, faltered, began again. "I was thinking that Hotohori-sama will never.. never love me, will he? Not now, maybe not even if he did still think I was a woman. Am I right? But now I don't even have a hope. He knows I'm a man now. He'll never love me."  
Nuriko's tears had come again, and Chichiri put a hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes through the mask. Nuriko almost thought he could see the one eye, hazel and sad, and the jagged white scar, through the mask, but shook off the thought as a side-effect of too much crying.  
"If he is anyone worth loving at all," Chichiri said, very serious, "Then it shouldn't matter to him whether you are male or female. He should love you for who you are."  
Nuriko watched Chichiri take a step back, a tear sliding down the side of his face.  
"But.. he doesn't love me at all," Nuriko said. "He loves Suzaku no Miko."  
"Then do you intend to chase after him all of your life?" Chichiri asked, "I admire your strength, to grin and bear this, but some things should not be borne like a heavy load. This love, that is one of them. If he is too stubborn or thick to realize that love other than Suzaku no Miko's exists for him, then perhaps it is best that you give up on him. Please tell me you will at least consider it, because this man will break your heart into a thousand pieces and burn your flesh alive if you let him."  
"I-I'll think about it, I guess," Nuriko stuttered, taken aback by the statements Chichiri made. He knew they were true, or at least mostly true. How much of his heart did this monk know, anyway? "I.. I'll definately have to think about it.."  
"And when I do join you, never let the others know that you met me before, ne?" Chichiri asked, his demeanor changed yet again. "It wouldn't do for you to have met one of the constellations, know he was a constellation, and still never bring him back to the others, ne, no da? Now, you should go, no da. I think the others need you."  
"H-hai." Nuriko said. "Thank you, and... I guess, ja ne."  
"Ja ne, indeed, no da," Chichiri said. "Farewell, until we meet again!"  
And then the monk was gone, leaving Nuriko to return back to the others, alone in the rain.  
  
~*Owari*~  
  
NOTE: If you want me to follow this up, review, let me know! Thank you very much! 


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